Are You Ready to Travel with Hybrid Air Vehicles, the Zeppelins of the Future?
In the next few years, a large number of hybrid aircraft that can fulfil similar functions to regional passenger aircraft and even narrow-body passenger aircraft are expected to be introduced. In addition, it is stated that hybrid aircraft will be an alternative aircraft that can transport cargo to remote areas at much lower prices than the cargo service normally provided by road and other existing aircraft.
Hybrid Air Vehicle (HAV) working principle seems to be a combination of existing aircraft. HAVs are aircraft that obtain lift from a combination of aerodynamic lift (like an aeroplane), gas effect (airship) and vectorial thrust (helicopter-like). In other words, a hybrid aircraft or ship is a motorised aircraft that derives part of its lift as a Lighter than Air (LTA) airship and part of its lift from a heavier-than-air aerodynamic lift.
For example, Airship Bouyancy is a hybrid airship manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Cruising speed is 60 K. It can transport up to 19 passengers at ranges up to 1,400 nm. In the next few years, it is expected that a large number of hybrid aircraft that can fulfil functions similar to regional passenger aircraft and even narrow-body passenger aircraft will be commissioned. In addition, it is stated that hybrid aircraft will be an alternative aircraft that can transport cargo to remote areas at much lower prices than the cargo service normally provided by road and other existing aircraft. Although it has a similar appearance to the airships led by the Germans for a period, it is predicted that today's 'airship' type aircrafts, to which new technologies have been adapted, will serve in a much wider spectrum than airships.
For now, hybrid aircrafts are on their way to becoming an alternative aircraft for regional air transport or journeys. Pioneering steps are also being taken in this regard. For example, the British company Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) and the Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum recently signed a contract. Announced on 15 June 2022, the agreement drew attention as the first sale in the hybrid aircraft trade. Air Nostrum plans to carry out regional airline transport with 10 hybrid airships called Airlander 10 with a capacity of 100 seats. Air Nostrum is a well-established company. It has nearly 30 years of operating experience in airline transport. With its 53 regional passenger aircraft, it carries passengers/cargo to 120 destinations between 7 countries in Europe and North Africa.
HAV is an aircraft manufacturer that claims to be the world leader in the field of hybrid aircraft. To date, the company has carried out 7 test flights with the Airlander 10 prototype and hundreds of hours of simulation flights in coordination with it. These tests have demonstrated the aircraft's performance, the extent to which planned capabilities can be achieved and the reliability of key systems in the air. EASA granted Design Organisation Approval (DOA) to HAV in September 2018. This is an important indicator of reliability for HAV production aircraft. Following EASA, the UK Directorate General of Civil Aviation, as the competent authority in this country, also announced that it has granted HAV Production Organisation Approval (POA). As a result, HAV started to focus on the design and production of the Airlander 10.
The Airlander has a hull design similar to conventional cylindrical airships, but made of composite flexible structural material. It is an inflatable air vehicle utilising helium as a lifting gas in a structure similar to balloons. A combination of previously tried and proven aviation technologies has been put into action. Airlander also utilises technologies used in airplanes, helicopters or new generation vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as the V-22 Osprey. Similar to other aircraft, Airlander uses thrust vectored propulsion for take-off and cruise. It utilises composite rigid structural materials. In addition to digital engine control devices, sophisticated avionics are standard equipment on the Airlander. All this makes Airlander a state-of-the-art aircraft with game-changing capabilities in air transport.
The HAV-built, diesel-powered propeller-driven airships are expected to diversify Air Nostrum Group's existing aircraft fleet and reduce harmful emissions to one tenth of the current emissions. Air Nostrum senior management states that the company has signed such an agreement, considering that it is an important milestone in achieving the goal of decarbonisation in air transport. In Europe, countries such as France, Denmark, Norway, Norway, Spain and the UK have started to introduce ambitious requirements for the decarbonisation of domestic and short-haul flights. Even in this respect, Airlander may become a preferred aircraft with the electric engines it plans to put into operation soon.
HAV, which has established its factory in South Yorkshire region of England, has been developing the hybrid airship Airlander 10 since 2012; It is introduced as a model that does not need runways, can take off and land from water, and is equipped with a pneumatic sled. Powered by four Thielert Centurion diesel engines, this new type of hybrid aircraft can reach a distance of 3,900 kilometres (2,400 miles) without landing. The Airlander 10 can carry up to 14,000 kilograms (30,000 lbs) of cargo or passengers. The Airlander 50, which is planned to be a more advanced version, is expected to serve the spread of hybrid aircraft as an aircraft with a serious potential in airline transport with a carrying capacity of approximately 50 tonnes.
According to the agreement, the first hybrid aircraft will be delivered to Air Nostrum in 2027. Air Nostrum, which has now signed a new agreement with HAV, has increased its order of 10 aircraft to 20 aircraft. The benefits of hybrid aircraft include very low fuel consumption, great ecological and economic benefits, the ability to take off and land on land and water, and high operational convenience.
Simultaneously with Air Nostrum operating in Spain, Malta-based Mel Air, one of the subsidiaries of this company, is also considering the use of hybrid aircraft. Thanks to its central location in the Mediterranean, Mel Air plans to operate airships on relatively short routes within the Maltese archipelago, as well as routes connecting Malta to Sicily, mainland Italy and North Africa.
I know that no investment has yet been made in Turkey for hybrid aircrafts. I believe that production in this virgin field, especially in the size of regional passenger aircraft, should be taken into planning by Turkish aerospace companies in the future. As in UAV technology, I foresee that we will be able to make our name among the world's leading countries in the production of hybrid aircrafts, which are still in their infancy.
References
Miquel Ros, Aerotime Hub, “Air Nostrum doubles Airlander 10 airship order, plans Malta base”, 9 April 2023, https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/air-nostrum-doubles-airlander-10-airship-order-plans-malta-base
Gabriele Petrauskaite, Aerotime Hub, “Spanish airline Air Nostrum to become launch customer for Airlander 10”, 15 June 2022, https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/31317-air-nostrum-to-buy-10-hybrid-airlander-airships
Hybrid Air Vehicles, Airlander 10, https://www.hybridairvehicles.com/our-aircraft/airlander-10/
